Crossing guards, police discuss safety for students walking to and from school

Elizabeth Lundblad/ELundblad@News-Herald.com
Phyllis Slifko, of Mentor, has been a crossing guard for 33 years. She works outside Dale R. Rice Elementary School, where she assists kids crossing Lake Shore Boulevard.

“Here’s one of mine,” she says as the boy walks up. “How was your day?”

“My friend didn’t wait for me,” he huffs, clearly put out at having to walk home alone.
Slifko smiles and looks up, the street light is red.

“Time to get you home.”

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It’s one of many interactions Slifko has had with her kids at Rice. She’s been a crossing guard with the city of Mentor for 33 years. Not far behind is Bobbie Heinz, a crossing guard at the intersection of Corduroy Road and Jordan Drive, a few blocks from Sterling Morton Elementary School, has been with the city for 29 years.

“You know you’ve been on the corner too long when you’re crossing the kids of the kids you’ve crossed,” she said.

Officer Marilyn Satterfield, with Mentor Police Department, said she inherited a good group of crossing guards, all of whom are police department employees. There are six guards and two alternates.

Satterfield, Heinz and Slifko said the number of kids who walk or bike to school fluctuates on a daily basis. On Aug. 25, Heinz said she had five bikers and one dad with a stroller. Slifko had 12 walkers, but the next day could bring three kids or none.

“You, Bobbie, are by the library and you’ve got to keep looking all the way down because up until this year the sidewalks were in pretty bad shape,” Satterfield said. “The Safe Routes to School grant paid for new sidewalks.”

Mentor, like other cities, has been going after Safe Routes to School grants from the state to help cut down on traffic around the schools.

“A lot of parents drive their kids to school and it clogs up the parking areas when they’re dropping their kids off and our buses are trying to get in,” Satterfield said. “If they live close enough where they could walk, it would help.”

Maggie Kuyasa, recreation coordinator for Mentor, said the city and schools work together on walking programs for students.

“It’s a hard program, Safe Routes to School, to qualify for. I think we have right now Sterling Morton, Orchard Hollow Elementary and Shore Middle,” she said. “I direct most of my attention to Morton and Orchard Hollow because it’s a little harder with the age group at Shore.”

At Orchard Hollow, the students who walk carry a little punch card with them and after so many punches they get a small prize, Kuyasa said. The punched ticket goes into a raffle box and at the end of the year a larger prize, like an iPod, is usually raffled off.

Painesville Police Chief Anthony Powalie said crosswalks are clearly marked and school zones are marked with bright signs and flashing lights.

Like other traffic offenses, speeding in a school zone or turning right on red during restricted hours have to be witnessed by police in order to generate a citation. But that’s not the case for all school-traffic related offenses.

“Going past a stopped school bus we don’t have to see,” Powalie said. “Our bus drivers are trained to memorize license plates and identify drivers. We follow up on any reports we get.”

Though the police don’t see any reason for students be up near railroad tracks, every so often the department will receive a complaint or report of kids near the tracks.

“We’ll get out and drive around. If we catch kids starting to cross the tracks we stop them because it’s dangerous and it’s against the law. It’s railroad trespassing,” Powalie said.

“Depending on the age, we’ll talk about being up there (on the tracks) and give them a warning. If we see it repeated, we could criminally charge them.”

In addition to regular patrols, the police department also provides crossing guards to help shepherd kids in the morning and afternoon.

“Guards have to want to volunteer. They get paid, but they have to be there in the morning and when the kids are released from school,” Powalie said. “They need patience and common sense. What we do is check records and criminal history on them to make sure nobody that shouldn’t be around kids is hired. We’re always looking for a safety-minded person and the most responsible person.”

Satterfield said the crossing guards act as eyes and ears on the ground for potential problems too. Slifko said she sees parents who pick up their kids drive over the grass at Rice to turn out onto Lake Shore Boulevard instead of using the other exit like they’re supposed to.

“They drive right over the sidewalk. I have kids walking there,” she said. “Parents don’t seem to pay attention to signs. I don’t know why.”

It’s issues like that, Satterfield said, that the police will then go to the schools to fix it.

Euclid Police Department is very active in the Euclid Schools to promote walking safety.

Ed Bonchak, community education specialist for the Euclid Police Department, said he discusses several safety tips with walkers, including walking on sidewalks, obeying traffic signals and walk signs, walking against traffic so they can see cars coming to avoid having someone sneak up them and walking the most direct route, because it is usually the safest route.

“I also encourage parents to walk their child’s route the first week, to show them the route they should take,” he said. Bonchak added that parents should go over emergency contact information with their children and make clear who is authorized to pick them up from school.

Another big safety issue is walking with iPods and cellphones because of the distraction.

“Technology is great, but it can get in the way of safety,” he said.

Along with crossing guards, who are employed by the city, officers will be enforcing traffic laws and safety issues.

“We are trying to let everyone know that we are out there,” Bonchak said. “We want people to know that we will be enforcing traffic laws, especially the 20 mph zones, and we are able to cite middle school and high school students for walking in the street, disorderly conduct and jaywalking. We usually give a warning, but if it is a repeated problem, we can give them a ticket for those things and parents would have to go downtown to juvenile court with their child.”

Several schools in the area will continue to discuss safety and health benefits of walking to school in October.

Safe Kids Greater Cleveland Coalition will celebrate International Walk to School Week, Oct. 6 through 10 and observe International Walk to School Day on Oct. 8.

University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital is the lead agency for the Safe Kids Greater Cleveland Coalition, and invites school districts in Greater Cleveland to promote walking to school and have walking activities during the week, with a special prize to the school who has the highest percentage of walkers that week.

But if there is one thing that Bonchak wants students to remember is to walk with a purpose.

“I tell them to walk like you have some place to go,” he said. “You are less likely to be a victim if someone is looking for trouble. When you are walking to school, get there on time and when you are walking from school, get home.”

About the Authors

Amy is a proud Baldwin Wallace alumna who enjoys baseball games, music concerts and a good book. Reach the author at apopik@news-herald.com
or follow Amy on Twitter: @AmyPopikNH.

Liz started working at The News-Herald in July 2012. She's covered municipalities, schools and now the night beat. She likes Doctor Who, baseball, ice hockey and cheeseburgers. Reach the author at elundblad@news-herald.com
or follow Elizabeth on Twitter: @NewsHLiz.